Big iPhone/iPad Update Now Available

Today is an exciting day! A new version of WordPress for iOS was just pushed live, and it’s been dubbed the “biggest update ever”. It features a completely re-imagined interface for both iPhone and iPad that takes mobile blogging to the next level. It’s most noticeable on the iPad: a sliding panels interface enables you to quickly get to any part of the app and rediscover your content.

New Interface

As soon as you download the app you’re greeted by a new welcome screen that guides you while adding your blog(s) to the app. Once authenticated you’re taken right to the Reader, where you can catch up on the blogs you follow, find topics you like, and now use a friend finder to discover your friends’ blogs on WordPress.com.

On the iPhone you’ll see a list icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Tap or swipe to open the sidebar, revealing all your blog’s content, as well as the ability to upload a quick Photo and access your Settings.

On the iPad the sidebar is right there, the first panel to the left. As you tap items in the list they’ll open in panels allowing you to drill deeper into the app.

Enhanced Stats

In the latest update of WordPress for iOS you can now view your full WordPress.com Stats right from within the app. This means more details, more control, and much better use of screen space. For the iPad the panel expands to the size of two panels for better viewing.

Reader and Quick Photo for iPad

The big, beautiful screen on the iPad is a perfect fit for the WordPress.com Reader. You can now keep up with blogs you follow, browse topics that interest you, and check out the latest Freshly Pressed posts. The panels interface makes it easy to navigate around and even visit the full site right from the app.

The “Quick Photo” function is one of the most popular iPhone features, and now we are bringing it to the iPad as well. Use your iPad’s built in camera to take a photo or select one from library. It all works as seamlessly and as fast as it does for the iPhone.

Friend Finder

Did you know you could use your accounts on other social networks to find friends blogging on WordPress.com? In the latest update of WordPress for iOS you can do this right from the app – finding your friends on Twitter, Facebook is only a tap away. You can also securely search your device’s address book to find your friends’ blogs.

Post Formats

Post Formats are an important part of many themes these days and it was time for WordPress for iOS to get the ability as well. By using post formats you effectively choose how your post will look once published (if your theme supports them).

More Enhancements, Bugfixes, and Tweaks

* New Post Preview for iPad: When viewing a post on the iPad, you’ll now get a nice preview of the post including formatting and images.
* All-Around Landscape Support: Nearly all areas of the app support landscape orientation now, including all of the tabs in the post editor. (You’ll notice this on the iPhone and the iPod Touch.)
* Easy Site and Dashboard Access: A no-brainer. We added buttons in the Sidebar to view your site as well as a Dashboard link so you can access your full WordPress dashboard (“/wp-admin”) right from within the app. Thanks to this you can now easily update your theme, manage your users, access your tools, and more.

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171 Comments

Reblogged this on Chris McLeod and commented:
This pretty much fixes every gripe I’ve had with WordPress on iOS. Lately I’ve been using Blogsy for blogging from my iPad, as it supported Custom Post Formats. Now the Official app does so too I may switch back.

Tap the Menu key (the button with 3 horizontal lines on it) and then tap your blog and then the ‘Stats’ button. The app will remember the last section you were viewing, so it will open Stats every time if you leave it there when you exit the app.

Installed the app on my iPhone. Looks absolutely great! One problem though: I can’t see my blog statistics from the JetPack plugin on my self-hosted blog. After entering my WordPress username and password, the app gives me the following error: “There was a problem connecting to your stats. Would you like to retry?” Is this a temporary glitch maybe or am I doing something wrong?

This is excellent. I could not fully utilize the previous version that I just deleted it for my iPad. Recently, I’ve been meaning to purchase the Blogsy app. I’m glad this came before that. I’m exploring it now. Thank you WordPress. :)

I like the feature of posting pictures on my iPad. It was not possible before. However the quick edit doesn’t work. I can’t assign my new post as sticky post. Also no draft. It is still not 100% good. Will need to go back to my laptop for posting.

Tap Settings on the Post editor (the gear icon in the bottom toolbar) to change the post status to Draft. You can also save your post as a draft by tapping Back when done editing – you’ll get warned about unsaved changes and have the option to save it as a draft there.

The posting of pictures on iPad is now great. But I cannot add sticky post to my new post. Also I want to create drafts and check ABC etc before publishing it. It is no longer available with the new updated app!

I love the new look and my phone doesn’t crash or the reader doesn’t freeze when you want to read more of a post. Excellent work and it’s much appreciated! Thanks WordPress! Now only if there was spell check….

You have full access to your blog’s Dashboard from within the app (same as what you would see in a web browser). You should be able to change your blog’s appearance using the dashboard view, but doing it on an iPad should be much easier (more screen space).

So, I just started using the new app yesterday and I have to say, I LOVE IT!! So much better than the old one, which I felt wasn’t as user friendly. This, though, is a wonderful step in the right direction. THANK YOU, WordPress! :)

I LOVE it. I had been hoping and waiting for such an update! Thanks so much. :D I knew of the update only after reading this post and immediately got my WordPress app updated LOL. Really gonna enjoy my blogging experience even more now because I use my iPhone for most things now so I hardly touch the computer.

Not supposed to leave question here, and I can’t get support without paid account… But I have downloaded app three times and reader function still does not work. Can’t get Fresh Pressed or blogs I follow on iPad with the new app. What gives?

Another thing that does not work along with the reader function; when I press the stats button under my blog, I get the WordPress.com screen with all of today’s fresh pressed pics and titles, and the log in header as if I was logging in via WordPress.com on my computer. But there are no stats.

Reblogged this on Technically Non-Tech and commented:
That was a much needed update indeed. It just made iPad some more productive. Really missed the Reader and Dashboard features. WordPress was one of those rare examples where an Android app is clearly better than its iOS counterpart. Now both are pretty much even. No need for third party apps anymore. Good work!

Well thanks, this was a loooooooong time in coming. However it is still very buggy. Lots of error messages popping up and when I view my own images in “posts”, they are weirdly formatted and all squashed.
Good effort but I have to say, it’s not that polished yet.
That will be a bronze medal for you.

This is a great update for the iPhoneand iPad, but why can’t I center photos in the app or choose hyperlink options (ie., open link in a new window)? If you make these two things possible, it will be perfect.

I’ve been trying to use the WordPress app on my iPad with the previous update and it wasn’t user friendly in my opinion. Now this new update has blown that notion out of the water and makes it more accessible to use!

I have been longing for this update as I use my app all the time for my blog, BUT….I know this isn’t a WP issue but Apple will not let me update my apps even though updates are free because it keeps sayi g my card was declined. .And this for a Free app or free update. So I cannot update at the moment. :( This seems to be an ongoing problem with Apple and ITunes.

Two days later and I still cannot see my Jet Pack stats. It starts to load them and gets stuck on them. Am I the only one? The other icon tells me there was an error want to retry? And on and on. I don’t think we’re there yet.

Some users have had trouble getting Stats via Jetpack to work. We’ve released two bug fix updates to deal with these problems, version 3.1.2 will be available in the store later this week and should resolve your issues. If it does not we’d love to help work things out if you post in the WordPress for iOS forums: http://ios.forums.wordpress.org/